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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Richard Luscombe in Miami

‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detainees say guards deny them food and clean water until they sign English documents

beds inside a detention center
Beds are seen inside the ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ migrant detention center as Donald Trump tours the facility in Ochopee, Florida, on 1 July 2025. Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

Detainees at Florida’s notorious “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration jail said guards were denying them food and fresh water on Thursday until they signed documents presented to them in English that they did not understand.

In an audio recording of a telephone call to an immigration advocacy group heard by the Guardian, more than half a dozen detainees alleged that the water given to them over the last three days was “rotten” and containing mosquito larvae, in an apparent attempt to pressure them to sign.

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